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House of Whispers
House of Whispers, Vol. 1: The Power Divided
One of four books expanding Neil Gaiman's acclaimed Sandman Universe. Welcome to the House of Dahomey, the houseboat of Erzulie Fr�da, where the souls of Voodoo followers go when they sleep but even the fearsome Erzulie is powerless when her dream river turns sour, tossing her house from one realm and into another.. the Dreaming!
From her bayou, Erzulie scries upon the mortal realm and sees four human girls open a mysterious and magical journal filled with whispers and rumors that, if they spread, could cause a pandemic unlike any the Earth has seen, with the power to release Shakpana, the loa lord of infectious disease and nephew to Erzulie, who is currently banned from the human plane. Meanwhile, a mysterious infection doctors are calling "Cotard's Delusion" spreads, trapping countless souls in the Dreaming and leaving their physical bodies yearning for death.
Written by Nalo Hopkinson, award-winning author of Brown Girl in the Ring and Midnight Robber, and Dominike "Domo" Stanton, artist of the acclaimed Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
The Sandman Universe is a new series of books curated by Neil Gaiman for DC Vertigo. Conjuring epic storytelling and immersing readers into the evolving world of the Dreaming, The Sandman Universe begins anew with four new ongoing series, existing in a shared universe, building upon Gaiman's New York Times best-selling series that lyrically weaved together stories of dreams and magic.
Collects House of Whispers #1-6 and Sandman Universe Special #1
From her bayou, Erzulie scries upon the mortal realm and sees four human girls open a mysterious and magical journal filled with whispers and rumors that, if they spread, could cause a pandemic unlike any the Earth has seen, with the power to release Shakpana, the loa lord of infectious disease and nephew to Erzulie, who is currently banned from the human plane. Meanwhile, a mysterious infection doctors are calling "Cotard's Delusion" spreads, trapping countless souls in the Dreaming and leaving their physical bodies yearning for death.
Written by Nalo Hopkinson, award-winning author of Brown Girl in the Ring and Midnight Robber, and Dominike "Domo" Stanton, artist of the acclaimed Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
The Sandman Universe is a new series of books curated by Neil Gaiman for DC Vertigo. Conjuring epic storytelling and immersing readers into the evolving world of the Dreaming, The Sandman Universe begins anew with four new ongoing series, existing in a shared universe, building upon Gaiman's New York Times best-selling series that lyrically weaved together stories of dreams and magic.
Collects House of Whispers #1-6 and Sandman Universe Special #1
200 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 2018
77 people are currently reading
1521 people want to read
About the author
Nalo Hopkinson
143 books2,038 followersNalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 152 reviews
October 10, 2019
The basic premise is that a Loa (a voodoo god) unleashes a spiritual plague on mankind that separates one's souls from their body and spreads by touch. Meanwhile, all the Loa have crash-landed in the Dreaming where they interact with Cain and Abel and spout off a bunch of exposition and mumbo-jumbo.
I had a terrible time connecting to this. The mythology is very dense. There's a ton of Loa to keep track of, including their changing motivations and goals. The two stories feel unconnected and take WAY too long to make any progress. The story is far too decompressed. I found myself often looking to see how long until I reached the end because I just didn't care. Adding a bunch of voodoo gods to the Dreaming feels like a puzzle piece that just doesn't fit.
I had a terrible time connecting to this. The mythology is very dense. There's a ton of Loa to keep track of, including their changing motivations and goals. The two stories feel unconnected and take WAY too long to make any progress. The story is far too decompressed. I found myself often looking to see how long until I reached the end because I just didn't care. Adding a bunch of voodoo gods to the Dreaming feels like a puzzle piece that just doesn't fit.
March 9, 2020
I was definitely a little bit confused at some points but overall I think I like most of the characters introduced here and the artwork is pretty good as well. I'm not overly familiar with the different Voodoo gods that featured in this story so I think that was part of what was confusing for me, but I definitely liked the human cast of characters and I think I could come to enjoy this more as some of the blanks are filled in with future issues. It's definitely not easy to add characters to the Sandman universe though and I think Hopkinson makes a decent start here. I'm interested to see where it goes next and it is at any rate better than whatever the hell they're trying to do with Lucifer.
[edit 3/9/20: I tried an issue of the next volume and decided to drop this series for now. I'm reading a lot less this year and I'm just not feeling things with such large casts at the moment]
[edit 3/9/20: I tried an issue of the next volume and decided to drop this series for now. I'm reading a lot less this year and I'm just not feeling things with such large casts at the moment]
August 15, 2022
This is the first really good experience I've had reading a comic or graphic novel on a Kindle, which was a pleasant surprise. Technology keeping up with the times, I love that!
So Nalo Hopkinson does Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, in a New Orleans-infused story of a dream-created infectious disease spread by a loa run amok. Morpheus is missing, but there are plenty of loa running around in the Dreaming. Although at first the story seemed confusing, I eventually sorted out the players and their variations. The fantastic illustrations helped in this regard as well. Overall, a fun read, and recommended for its genre.
So Nalo Hopkinson does Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, in a New Orleans-infused story of a dream-created infectious disease spread by a loa run amok. Morpheus is missing, but there are plenty of loa running around in the Dreaming. Although at first the story seemed confusing, I eventually sorted out the players and their variations. The fantastic illustrations helped in this regard as well. Overall, a fun read, and recommended for its genre.
October 19, 2019
Loved the art, but I was confused for most of the story.
July 27, 2019
Adding anything new to the almost untouchable mythos of The Sandman is always going to be a daunting task, but Nalo Hopkinson takes to the idea easily, not trying to rewrite anything from before and instead slotting Erzulie and her House Of Whispers into the mythos quite literally, by having her houseboat drive straight through a hole in the Dreaming.
From there, we get a tale of two halves as Erzulie struggles with her new lodgings, and her nephew causes a disease of living death to affect the waking world.
House Of Whispers has a lot of good ideas, and the rich history that Hopkinson draws on gives it a lot of flavour - she's an unapologetic storyteller, in the vein of Christopher Priest; if you don't understand a reference, then you can go and investigate it on your own time. You're going to get just enough to know where the story's heading, and anything else you want to know is on you. That can be a little daunting, but the fact that I did want to go out and do some extra research after reading the issues here should say something.
That said, House Of Whispers also has a lot of teething problems. The two stories being told are often too separate to feel like they're part of the same book up until right near the end, and because we sometimes move at such breakneck pace, it's hard to keep certain characters and their relationships straight.
On the art side, Domo Stanton handles each issue contained here. Her work is a little loose for my taste, but it works for the most part, especially with regards to the constant flux that Erzulie is in as she switches between her personas. House Of Whispers definitely feels like a Vertigo book in a visual sense.
Of all the Sandman Universe books, House Of Whispers has the hardest time establishing itself. The characters and the ideas are all there, but the execution is a little off at times, which makes this a shaky start.
From there, we get a tale of two halves as Erzulie struggles with her new lodgings, and her nephew causes a disease of living death to affect the waking world.
House Of Whispers has a lot of good ideas, and the rich history that Hopkinson draws on gives it a lot of flavour - she's an unapologetic storyteller, in the vein of Christopher Priest; if you don't understand a reference, then you can go and investigate it on your own time. You're going to get just enough to know where the story's heading, and anything else you want to know is on you. That can be a little daunting, but the fact that I did want to go out and do some extra research after reading the issues here should say something.
That said, House Of Whispers also has a lot of teething problems. The two stories being told are often too separate to feel like they're part of the same book up until right near the end, and because we sometimes move at such breakneck pace, it's hard to keep certain characters and their relationships straight.
On the art side, Domo Stanton handles each issue contained here. Her work is a little loose for my taste, but it works for the most part, especially with regards to the constant flux that Erzulie is in as she switches between her personas. House Of Whispers definitely feels like a Vertigo book in a visual sense.
Of all the Sandman Universe books, House Of Whispers has the hardest time establishing itself. The characters and the ideas are all there, but the execution is a little off at times, which makes this a shaky start.
December 18, 2021
This must have looked really good on paper: the Dreaming absorbs the Loa, offering up a story that's both familiar and steeped in a different tradition. But the writing's just not very good. We get a mess of characters, including Abel, Cain, Gregory, Goldie, the Loa, and some girls who are impacted by these mythological forces. And they're never well characterized, and so we don't care about them. Meanwhile, they're all pushed around by the needs of the plot without any feeling like anyone has any agency. In the end, it's just a bunch of gods fighting. Meanwhile, we get a boatload of captions, most of which just repeat what we're already seeing in the illustrations. The result is positively dull. I barely made it through the graphic novel without setting it aside.
June 30, 2020
Lush and wonderful to read, though the pacing was a little off at the end - looking forward to reading the following volumes already.
August 7, 2019
Of the Sandman Universe titles, this is the one that most reminded me of the original series. Full of new characters, dense mythology, and a logic that feels dreamlike, this deep dive into a very different belief system at the feet of Uncle Monday and the Erzulie sisters was a challenge to read - not just dialect, but keeping track of the characters and their motivations. But it was also the most rewarding. The story of a spiritual plague of people who believe themselves already dead seems vaguely familiar, but the exploration of the dreaming and the connections between Erzulie and her believers, and the tempestuous Lord Shakpana is a story I've never come across before. Unfortunately, it's connections to the story of the three sisters is a bit scattershot, and there are so many characters to keep track of that many get little development. Still, the stakes in this story are some of the biggest in the Sandman Universe, and the art is the most distinctive, while still managing to convey the story relatively clearly. It isn't quite the Sandman Universe I remember, but, some of the other titles, I can definitely see it nearby.
March 6, 2019
I really wanted to like this more than I did, but unfortunately this story was so muddled and confusing that I often had a hard time following what was going on. So much of this story's pacing felt rushed that at several points I was convinced that I had skipped a page, and at one point I wondered if I'd skipped an entire issue (a character is suddenly present in the third chapter who was not there previously, though everyone treats her as if she's been around the entire time).
At one point in the story characters are being infected with a virus that robs them of all feeling (such that they think they are walking dead), but right after two of the main characters get infected and can no longer feel anything, they get into a heated argument. And it's not just that they aren't supposed to feel anything physical, because the thing they get into an argument over is that one of them is carelessly going around infecting random people because she just can't summon the feelings to care. It's odd that the story tells the reader quite plainly that the characters can't feel anything, and then it goes on to show us that they in fact apparently still do.
The House of Whispers apparently doesn't exist in the beginning of the story, but later characters start referring to it like it's an established thing that's been created during the course of the story. Again I wonder, did I overlook or miss something in the narrative?
I liked the idea of Erzulie having multiple aspects that she shifts through during the story, and the art was very nice to look at. This story had some interesting ideas behind it and a lot of potential, but sadly the confusion I felt while reading it prevented me from enjoying it fully. And the little tease at the end of the first story arc seems to suggest a setup for the second arc that would likely have an almost identical plot to the first.
I think I'm going to abandon Erzulie's houseboat (is that now the House of Whispers?) after this short ride, but I do hope this story ends up finding its way, because I see unrealized potential in these pages.
At one point in the story characters are being infected with a virus that robs them of all feeling (such that they think they are walking dead), but right after two of the main characters get infected and can no longer feel anything, they get into a heated argument. And it's not just that they aren't supposed to feel anything physical, because the thing they get into an argument over is that one of them is carelessly going around infecting random people because she just can't summon the feelings to care. It's odd that the story tells the reader quite plainly that the characters can't feel anything, and then it goes on to show us that they in fact apparently still do.
The House of Whispers apparently doesn't exist in the beginning of the story, but later characters start referring to it like it's an established thing that's been created during the course of the story. Again I wonder, did I overlook or miss something in the narrative?
I liked the idea of Erzulie having multiple aspects that she shifts through during the story, and the art was very nice to look at. This story had some interesting ideas behind it and a lot of potential, but sadly the confusion I felt while reading it prevented me from enjoying it fully. And the little tease at the end of the first story arc seems to suggest a setup for the second arc that would likely have an almost identical plot to the first.
I think I'm going to abandon Erzulie's houseboat (is that now the House of Whispers?) after this short ride, but I do hope this story ends up finding its way, because I see unrealized potential in these pages.
September 1, 2019
Basic plot: A plague that takes people's souls away infects the Earth while the deities who can stop it are trapped in the Dreaming.
I must admit, I never connected with this story. I didn't recognize the figures as I've never really read up on Voodoo or Yoruba mythologies. The art was fantastic and the characters complex, but I felt disconnected from everything and I don't know that my lack of background knowledge was fully the reason. I wanted to like it, so I'm going to try to figure out my thoughts and revisit this.
I must admit, I never connected with this story. I didn't recognize the figures as I've never really read up on Voodoo or Yoruba mythologies. The art was fantastic and the characters complex, but I felt disconnected from everything and I don't know that my lack of background knowledge was fully the reason. I wanted to like it, so I'm going to try to figure out my thoughts and revisit this.
November 14, 2024
La Valse Du Ballard by Amédé Ardoin
When I finished reading Neil Gaiman's original The Sandman series back in 2017, I was amazed by it. There was no doubt in my mind how great a work it was. Despite that I had no inclinations to read any of the many sequels and prequels associated with it—most of them written by Gaiman himself. I thought about reading the prequel The Sandman: Overture, but that's all. I had read one spin-off connected with the character: a story using Lord Daniel (one of his earliest appearences as the Lord of Dreams) in JLA, Vol. 3, but nothing else. In 2018, while DC Comics was still in the midle of their cross-over blitz, Gaiman decided to throw his hat in the wring and decided to do a post-DC Universe: Rebirth #1...rebirth of the Sandman Universe aka the world of the Endless with The Sandman Universe #1 and launched 4 different series from it with different writers including this one. So if you have not read Gaiman's graphic novel from the 1990s, you are going to be very lost trying to read this book or it's siblings, start from here: The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes.
This story volume is the first of a three volume story concerning orishas in New Orleans being torn through with a rogue deity causing (I want to remind you that this story began serialization in 2018) a supernatural pandemic to break-out. One of the orishas in-particular becomes stranded in The Dreaming and has to stop her renegade nephew from destroying the world by plague.
The story is promising, but as this is a new-comic book writer, the pacing is slow and didactic/exposition-heavy. One has to really power through it, but the artwork of Dominike Stanton & Aneke (and Sean Andrew Murray on the cover art for the individual issues/chapters). I am hoping that the next volume will be a bit better with the pacing since the introductions are out of the way.
When I finished reading Neil Gaiman's original The Sandman series back in 2017, I was amazed by it. There was no doubt in my mind how great a work it was. Despite that I had no inclinations to read any of the many sequels and prequels associated with it—most of them written by Gaiman himself. I thought about reading the prequel The Sandman: Overture, but that's all. I had read one spin-off connected with the character: a story using Lord Daniel (one of his earliest appearences as the Lord of Dreams) in JLA, Vol. 3, but nothing else. In 2018, while DC Comics was still in the midle of their cross-over blitz, Gaiman decided to throw his hat in the wring and decided to do a post-DC Universe: Rebirth #1...rebirth of the Sandman Universe aka the world of the Endless with The Sandman Universe #1 and launched 4 different series from it with different writers including this one. So if you have not read Gaiman's graphic novel from the 1990s, you are going to be very lost trying to read this book or it's siblings, start from here: The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes.
This story volume is the first of a three volume story concerning orishas in New Orleans being torn through with a rogue deity causing (I want to remind you that this story began serialization in 2018) a supernatural pandemic to break-out. One of the orishas in-particular becomes stranded in The Dreaming and has to stop her renegade nephew from destroying the world by plague.
The story is promising, but as this is a new-comic book writer, the pacing is slow and didactic/exposition-heavy. One has to really power through it, but the artwork of Dominike Stanton & Aneke (and Sean Andrew Murray on the cover art for the individual issues/chapters). I am hoping that the next volume will be a bit better with the pacing since the introductions are out of the way.
March 2, 2020
Exciting new installment in the Sandman series. Nalo Hopkinson brings her trademark brand of Afro-Caribbean fantasy to the world of Dreaming. The illustrations are lush and the story is grounded but imaginative. The mythology will confuse some, but it's worth skimming a Wikipedia article to gain some clarity. Hopkinson doesn't do much explaining and challenges readers to do their own research.
I didn'tknow much Norse or Hindu mythology when I first read Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" but it inspired me to learn more about both. Later on when I reread the book, I got so much more out of it. The same applies here.
I didn'tknow much Norse or Hindu mythology when I first read Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" but it inspired me to learn more about both. Later on when I reread the book, I got so much more out of it. The same applies here.
October 2, 2018
I bought this as it was the most interesting and different of the new Sandman comics. It was fairly interesting, in that there was a big voodoo party. But the modern day lesbians baby sitting their younger sisters was a bit, er dull... It made me wonder what sort of family wouldn't let a 15 year old alone in the house as that was too young, as I was babysitting my sisters from the age of 13! One I will see about getting from the library in graphic novel, but not one I'll rush out and buy more individual comics.
November 21, 2019
[4.5]
Super cool art and story line, not what I expected but I like the direction it took it in. Can’t wait to see where it goes from here (hopefully with filling in some loose ends/cliffhangers).
Super cool art and story line, not what I expected but I like the direction it took it in. Can’t wait to see where it goes from here (hopefully with filling in some loose ends/cliffhangers).
September 14, 2019
Парасолькова графічна новела (власне The Sandman Universe) мені категорично не зайшла. Зрозуміло, що тяжко бути оупенінгом одразу для чотирьох лінійок, але це було таке типове враження: хто ви, люди, чому ви зайшли до всесвіту Сендмена в брудному взутті і що збираєтеся тут робити? - плюс ще й спойлерів нахапалася. Розмова про те: нафіга тобі, Ксеню, читати розширення, коли в тебе в активі прочитаного всього лише два томи Сендмена - є непродуктивною, зате має відповідь. Довелося згадати, що мені подобається Гопкінсон, і саме на неї я сюди і прийшла.
Починається все це щастя, як поганенький анекдот: "Заходить якось Ерзулі до царства Морфея...". Не з власної волі заходить, а рифтом принесло, і повернутися б рада, але вороги не пускають. І що тут у нас є?
Є два паралельні сюжети. Перший розповідає про кількох дівчат та епідемію "смертепсихозу" - інфекційного варіанту ілюзії Коттара, за якого абсолютно здорові люди впевнені, що вони мертві... і діють відповідно. Далі у програмі: ледь не зруйнована родина, пошинковані романтичні стосунки і кілька чуваків, котрі вирішили, що вони - зомбі і тепер мусять харчуватися виключно свіжими людськими мізками.
А другий - про те, що спричинило цю епідемію, як вона проявляється в "тоншому" світі, а головне - про непрості стосунки між кількома лоа, проміжним результатом яких і стало ув'язнення Ерзулі та лускатого й зубатого Дядечка Понеділка у царстві снів. А, і ще одного персонажа, але про нього трохи тссс...
У кожного з цих сюжетів є свої плюси й мінуси. "Пандемічний" - надто залюднений та доволі безтолковий, але й більш людяний. У тому сенсі, що про людей і тамтешні героїні доволі симпатичні. А ще він про життя нетуристичного Нового Орлеана і його конфлікти з туристичною дійсністю. Трохи соціалки, трохи драг-квін, які підпрацьовують конями для лоа, трохи першого кохання та вредних молодших сестер - і багато самопожертви і любові.
Містичний бік сюжету зігріває в першу чергу тим, що він про лоа - духів-посередників між світом людей і світом божественного. На наші гроші - практично боги, власне, вони ними колись і були, але нині ще трохи дібрали від християнських святих. Мені ця вуду-концепція завжди була цікава, а тут Нало Гопкінсон розважилася з розмахом: лоа багато, стосунки між ними складні й веселі, а ще ж є проблема кількох іпостасей. І коли замість розслабленої звабниці Ерзулі Фреда на перший план виходить пряма, як спис, Ерзулі Дантор - усім може стати мало місця. І стало. На якийсь час.
Тож загалом сюжет тут прямолінійний, буквальний і дещо переобтяжений зайвими сюжетними поворотами, котрі нічого аж такого генеральній лінії партії не додають, а ефірний час забивають. З іншого боку, він в міру іронічний, та й радує осмислена, продумана і дбайливо сервірована екзотика. Ерзулі в усіх трьох ликах прекрасна, чоловіки в неї - взагалі вогонь (окрім тих, хто лоа повітря та води), а напів крокодил напів алігатор (це він себе так визначає) Дядечко Понеділок із семінольської легенди - вопше мій герой!
Трохи ширша версія відгуку з картинками - у тому ж блозі, що й завжди.
Починається все це щастя, як поганенький анекдот: "Заходить якось Ерзулі до царства Морфея...". Не з власної волі заходить, а рифтом принесло, і повернутися б рада, але вороги не пускають. І що тут у нас є?
Є два паралельні сюжети. Перший розповідає про кількох дівчат та епідемію "смертепсихозу" - інфекційного варіанту ілюзії Коттара, за якого абсолютно здорові люди впевнені, що вони мертві... і діють відповідно. Далі у програмі: ледь не зруйнована родина, пошинковані романтичні стосунки і кілька чуваків, котрі вирішили, що вони - зомбі і тепер мусять харчуватися виключно свіжими людськими мізками.
А другий - про те, що спричинило цю епідемію, як вона проявляється в "тоншому" світі, а головне - про непрості стосунки між кількома лоа, проміжним результатом яких і стало ув'язнення Ерзулі та лускатого й зубатого Дядечка Понеділка у царстві снів. А, і ще одного персонажа, але про нього трохи тссс...
У кожного з цих сюжетів є свої плюси й мінуси. "Пандемічний" - надто залюднений та доволі безтолковий, але й більш людяний. У тому сенсі, що про людей і тамтешні героїні доволі симпатичні. А ще він про життя нетуристичного Нового Орлеана і його конфлікти з туристичною дійсністю. Трохи соціалки, трохи драг-квін, які підпрацьовують конями для лоа, трохи першого кохання та вредних молодших сестер - і багато самопожертви і любові.
Містичний бік сюжету зігріває в першу чергу тим, що він про лоа - духів-посередників між світом людей і світом божественного. На наші гроші - практично боги, власне, вони ними колись і були, але нині ще трохи дібрали від християнських святих. Мені ця вуду-концепція завжди була цікава, а тут Нало Гопкінсон розважилася з розмахом: лоа багато, стосунки між ними складні й веселі, а ще ж є проблема кількох іпостасей. І коли замість розслабленої звабниці Ерзулі Фреда на перший план виходить пряма, як спис, Ерзулі Дантор - усім може стати мало місця. І стало. На якийсь час.
Тож загалом сюжет тут прямолінійний, буквальний і дещо переобтяжений зайвими сюжетними поворотами, котрі нічого аж такого генеральній лінії партії не додають, а ефірний час забивають. З іншого боку, він в міру іронічний, та й радує осмислена, продумана і дбайливо сервірована екзотика. Ерзулі в усіх трьох ликах прекрасна, чоловіки в неї - взагалі вогонь (окрім тих, хто лоа повітря та води), а напів крокодил напів алігатор (це він себе так визначає) Дядечко Понеділок із семінольської легенди - вопше мій герой!
Трохи ширша версія відгуку з картинками - у тому ж блозі, що й завжди.
March 16, 2021
Pues después de muchísimos años, vuelvo al mundo de Sueño. Pendiente del final de la Biblioteca Morrison, ahora mismo salvo cosas eventuales no estoy siguiendo ninguna colección fija, y el otro día en Alcalá Cómics pensé... ¿Y por qué no volver al mundo de Sandman? Al final, creo que es uno de los mejores cómics (¿quizá el mejor?) que se ha escrito nunca, y una de las grandes historias de la literatura contemporánea, independientemente del género. Así que... pues decidí empezar por aquí, por la Casa de los Susurros, aunque supongo que iré echando un ojo a Lucifer, El Sueño o los Libros de la Magia (a Harry Potter le aguanto lo justo... pero Tim Hunter es otra película...).
Y como dirían en algún sitio, pues he venido a contaros.
La Casa de los Susurros es una nueva revisión de los mitos creados por Neil Gaiman para The Sandman, pero desde una perspectiva nueva, y es que si en esa colección pudimos ver a los dioses nórdicos y celtas, deidades orientales y personajes de la cultura judeocristiana, Nalo Hopkinson incluye en el panteón de Sandman a los dioses afrocaribeños del vudú y la santería, con la triple diosa Erzulie al frente, como protagonista y dueña de esta nueva Casa de los Susurros, que irrumpe en Sueño entre la Casa de los Secretos y la Casa de los Misterios, y lo hace a través de una extraña y misteriosa grieta que deja a Erzulie y sus seguidores separados de sus adoradores y del mundo despierto, iniciándose así una carrera contrarreloj en la que la diosa intenta regresar junto a sus fieles antes de quedar demasiado debilitada... y mientras, un grupo de chicas desencadena sin saberlo una peligrosa plaga mágica sobre Nueva Orleáns, y desde se extiende por el mundo a toda velocidad, separando almas y cuerpos...
La Casa de los Susurros comienza con una historia de lanzamiento que, sin ser nada del otro jueves, me ha gustado lo suficiente como para interesarme por seguir leyendo. Pero sobre todo es una historia "inclusiva" bien hecha. Es decir, se nota a años luz de distancia que está escrita con un objetivo claro: protagonistas femeninos, de color, y en varios casos pertenecientes a alguna (o varias) de las siglas LGTBI... pero al contrario que mucho de lo que leemos y vemos a día de hoy, donde lo diferente se mete a empujones, esta historia se desarrolla desde la verdadera inclusión, con mitos afrocaribeños, personajes normalizados... y con vudú, que a mi siempre me ha resultado algo de lo más interesante...
Y como dirían en algún sitio, pues he venido a contaros.
La Casa de los Susurros es una nueva revisión de los mitos creados por Neil Gaiman para The Sandman, pero desde una perspectiva nueva, y es que si en esa colección pudimos ver a los dioses nórdicos y celtas, deidades orientales y personajes de la cultura judeocristiana, Nalo Hopkinson incluye en el panteón de Sandman a los dioses afrocaribeños del vudú y la santería, con la triple diosa Erzulie al frente, como protagonista y dueña de esta nueva Casa de los Susurros, que irrumpe en Sueño entre la Casa de los Secretos y la Casa de los Misterios, y lo hace a través de una extraña y misteriosa grieta que deja a Erzulie y sus seguidores separados de sus adoradores y del mundo despierto, iniciándose así una carrera contrarreloj en la que la diosa intenta regresar junto a sus fieles antes de quedar demasiado debilitada... y mientras, un grupo de chicas desencadena sin saberlo una peligrosa plaga mágica sobre Nueva Orleáns, y desde se extiende por el mundo a toda velocidad, separando almas y cuerpos...
La Casa de los Susurros comienza con una historia de lanzamiento que, sin ser nada del otro jueves, me ha gustado lo suficiente como para interesarme por seguir leyendo. Pero sobre todo es una historia "inclusiva" bien hecha. Es decir, se nota a años luz de distancia que está escrita con un objetivo claro: protagonistas femeninos, de color, y en varios casos pertenecientes a alguna (o varias) de las siglas LGTBI... pero al contrario que mucho de lo que leemos y vemos a día de hoy, donde lo diferente se mete a empujones, esta historia se desarrolla desde la verdadera inclusión, con mitos afrocaribeños, personajes normalizados... y con vudú, que a mi siempre me ha resultado algo de lo más interesante...
November 30, 2019
A Casa dos Sussurros, dentro das quatro séries iniciais que compõem o Universo de Sandman e, dentro das três que li até agora é a mais fraquinha e que eu consegui entender menos. Isso porque parece que falta um glossário que explicasse quem são as entidades vodu/orixás a que o quadrinho se refere. Tanto os leitores brasileiros como os americanos carecem de mais informações para compreender o todo da história. Não sei como foi a publicação nos Estados Unidos, mas é prática da Panini fazer isso e deixar o leitor boiando, sem notas explicativas necessárias. O que é um lástima, porque não pretendo continuar acompanhando essa série porque não tive o entendimento do contexto, tão importante para um história em quadrinhos, uma vez que não sou um conhecedor das entidades e deuses da cultura creole e cajun de Nova Orleans e arredores. Os desenhos também não tem aquele capricho que estamos acostumados a acompanhar, parecem terem sido feitos às pressas. A história diverte e entretêm, isso é verdade, mas fica aquele entrave de conhecer melhor essa cultura para ir mais adiante. Uma pena que tenha sido publicada dessa maneira.
January 31, 2022
Sigo leyendo los cómic del Universo The Sandman, este el el primero de tres volúmenes, "La casa de los susurros" mezcla el mundo de Gaiman con historia y magia de New Orleans, vudú, diosas y cocodrilos, al principio no entendía mucho y tuve que buscar términos y mitología, y vale la pena el dibujo es muy bueno y logré interesarme por la trama, bastante contingente: la diosa Erzulie fue enviada al mundo del sueño, debe volver o su sobrino señor de las enfermedades liberará una pandemia mundial y la humanidad desaparecerá!!! 😱
September 3, 2022
A promising follow-up to the 'Sandman' series that builds on its diversity of characters, interactions between spiritual and material realms and between religion (all religions) and dreams, and its generally appealing art style.
Nalo Hopkinson draws on her knowledge of West Indian mythology and folklore to bring us a story based around two orishas. Shakpana, originally associated with smallpox and madness, then HIV, now all pandemics is (initially inadvertently) the source of the inciting incident. Erzulie is a goddess who has multiple aspects - and husbands - but the primary forms we see here are Erzulie Freda Dahomey (beautiful but sometimes jealous embodiment of love and femininity) and Erzulie Dantor (protector of women, children, and the downtrodden). The trouble begins when a crack in the Dreaming allows one of the "unwritten books" - Shakpana's notebook - to fall into the waking world. It is then read by a black New Orleans teenager named Maggie, her girlfriend Latoya, and her two younger sisters, causing Maggie's soul to leave her body and get stuck in the Dreaming. In an attempt to get control of things, Erzulie herself and a few other members of her pantheon get stranded there as well, while the plague of soullessness spreads.
I really enjoyed these new characters, and am curious to see where the story goes next - and to find out why the new Dreamlord seems to have quit! (Although, really... I can't say I was ever happy with the switchover. What kind of name for an eldritch lord of dreams is DANIEL?)
Nalo Hopkinson draws on her knowledge of West Indian mythology and folklore to bring us a story based around two orishas. Shakpana, originally associated with smallpox and madness, then HIV, now all pandemics is (initially inadvertently) the source of the inciting incident. Erzulie is a goddess who has multiple aspects - and husbands - but the primary forms we see here are Erzulie Freda Dahomey (beautiful but sometimes jealous embodiment of love and femininity) and Erzulie Dantor (protector of women, children, and the downtrodden). The trouble begins when a crack in the Dreaming allows one of the "unwritten books" - Shakpana's notebook - to fall into the waking world. It is then read by a black New Orleans teenager named Maggie, her girlfriend Latoya, and her two younger sisters, causing Maggie's soul to leave her body and get stuck in the Dreaming. In an attempt to get control of things, Erzulie herself and a few other members of her pantheon get stranded there as well, while the plague of soullessness spreads.
I really enjoyed these new characters, and am curious to see where the story goes next - and to find out why the new Dreamlord seems to have quit! (Although, really... I can't say I was ever happy with the switchover. What kind of name for an eldritch lord of dreams is DANIEL?)
Read
July 26, 2019Nalo Hopkinson's contribution to the Sandman spin-off line, and a book which feels like it would have been much more at ease existing in the wider Vertigo-verse we used to have, rather than forced into this closer union – the sections where it crosses over most directly with wobbly central title The Dreaming are generally its weakest points. Elsewhere, it's the story of the voodoo goddess Erzulie, cut off from her realm, her worshippers, and thus her sustenance, by her plague-god nephew Shakpana, who has also unleashed a contagious Cotard's delusion on the world – this being the condition where people think they're already dead, and can sometimes act accordingly, but here with its transmissibility giving it an extra zombie plague angle, as the afflicted pass it on with the telling words 'Can you feel it when I do this?' The first sufferers, a young queer couple in New Orleans, are co-leads in the book, with another link to Earth provided by Erzulie's favourite 'horse' (which is to say, the human she possesses in ceremonies), Alter Boi. There is that slight sense one often gets with a prose writer's first comics, where certain aspects of the story feel over-explained and others like they could have stood more clarification, and the pacing is off in places. But considered among such debuts, it's definitely promising work. Stanton's art pulls its weight too, managing a suitable blend of the earthy and uncanny, and able to convince when depicting the various transformations and defomations the story entails.
August 4, 2019
Introducing new gods, goddesses, and other mythological/religious figures into the world of Sandman was a good starting point for this series, and Erzulie, Agwe, and the other Voodoo figures are engaging characters, especially considering their multiple incarnations. But. I didn't feel as though this series gave enough context for the characters and plot for me to be able to engage with the story. A primer on the characters (even just a list of who is who and some facts about them, as has been done in many comics, including the Sandman comics themselves) at the beginning of the book would have been extremely helpful, but as it was, the exposition we did get, mostly in the last two issues of this trade, came too late. I felt as though I was thrown into something I was supposed to understand but from which I was still held at a distance. I liked the characters, especially Uncle Monday, the alligator/crocodile man, but the story itself was somewhat hard to follow. Of all the Sandman Universe books I have read so far (3 out of 4), this is the one I'm not sure I'll be continuing with.
December 4, 2019
This really should have been good: voodoo loa are trapped in the Dreaming while a supernatural contagion spreads in the waking world. And there are some good elements to it, not least a rather different perspective on things than we normally see. Unfortunately, it's just not written terribly well, with the stakes not as well-drawn as they should be, and some of the characters more confusing than anything else. (This may well be better if you already know a fair bit about voodoo and/or African mythology, which I admit that I don't). There's also a strange habit of using text boxes to describe what you're seeing in the accompanying picture - a common enough feature of older comics but not something we'd expect to see in modern ones. I wanted to like it, and it isn't truly bad, but it doesn't manage to grip, either and it just isn't as good as it ought to have been given the premise.
November 24, 2019
I love the Sandman universe and I love Nalo Hopkinson's writing, so this should have been a treat to read. The art is beautiful, and the the story is gripping. But there are a few problems. The first chapter was a Sandman chapter that I'd already read, and that confused me. Especially when Erzulie and her bunch were dropped into a later period of that setting. And towards the end, the book kind of dragged on, and with too much unrelenting darkness for me. Three and a half stars rounded up to four.
February 1, 2021
I could've sworn I'd already reviewed this disappointing beauty but it's perhaps been lost to the vortex like so many Sandman plot devices.
It seems this book has gotten muddled in my memory with The Dreaming, Vol. 1: Pathways and Emanations, so I won't be able to give much of an honest review.
It seems this book has gotten muddled in my memory with The Dreaming, Vol. 1: Pathways and Emanations, so I won't be able to give much of an honest review.
January 1, 2019
Gorgeous images and interesting story
January 23, 2019
Never thought anything could top House of Mystery but this is one amazing series. It's so reminiscent of Hellblazer's Papa Midnight.
July 11, 2020
House of Whispers should be a book you pick up for the writing, but in all honesty the comic's script is its weakest link. It is a series that is crammed to the gills with bizarre ideas and deeply-thought mythology, and in this it feels more like a true Sandman sister series than House of Secrets or House of Mystery ever did. But Hopkinson's dialogue is clunky and cliché. "Crap, that can't be good!" one character shouts when a Big Bad shows up at the end of an issue. "There goes the neighborhood!" shouts another when the next issue begins.
On top of a lot of throwaway lines like these, it's also pretty clear that Hopkinson can't quite figure out how to make all her cool ideas sound cool on the page. One of her new deities is a god of contagion that has discovered how to influence the modern world through the "viral" nature of online communication. This is clever as hell, but just sounds silly when the deities follow through on this by sitting around and talking about "meme games."
It seems like other Goodreaders are mostly frustrated with the convoluted nature of the storytelling in general. I don't think they're wrong, but I also remember that when I read Sandman as a teenager, I didn't understand that book either. So I'm willing to be a little bit more forgiving of the messy plot -- by no means do I think the foundation of the book's narrative is exactly solid, but I also recognize that it's throwing a billion new ideas at me on each page, and that it may yield more with a reread.
I want to like House of Whispers more than I do. It feels like a book that got compromised in development -- or maybe it's just that Hopkinson needed more guidance than she was given on how to lay out a comic. I don't know. The art, like the story, has some magnificent flares of inspiration -- and a lot of muddy, clumsy depictions of the supernatural that often feel like visual gimmicks from old issues of Fantastic Four, rather than a book with the ability to take advantage of DC's extensive visual effects budget.
I will read this again, and will likely read the entire series that follows it. Like I said, the ideas its digging into are great. But the rest of it just never gets off the ground.
On top of a lot of throwaway lines like these, it's also pretty clear that Hopkinson can't quite figure out how to make all her cool ideas sound cool on the page. One of her new deities is a god of contagion that has discovered how to influence the modern world through the "viral" nature of online communication. This is clever as hell, but just sounds silly when the deities follow through on this by sitting around and talking about "meme games."
It seems like other Goodreaders are mostly frustrated with the convoluted nature of the storytelling in general. I don't think they're wrong, but I also remember that when I read Sandman as a teenager, I didn't understand that book either. So I'm willing to be a little bit more forgiving of the messy plot -- by no means do I think the foundation of the book's narrative is exactly solid, but I also recognize that it's throwing a billion new ideas at me on each page, and that it may yield more with a reread.
I want to like House of Whispers more than I do. It feels like a book that got compromised in development -- or maybe it's just that Hopkinson needed more guidance than she was given on how to lay out a comic. I don't know. The art, like the story, has some magnificent flares of inspiration -- and a lot of muddy, clumsy depictions of the supernatural that often feel like visual gimmicks from old issues of Fantastic Four, rather than a book with the ability to take advantage of DC's extensive visual effects budget.
I will read this again, and will likely read the entire series that follows it. Like I said, the ideas its digging into are great. But the rest of it just never gets off the ground.
July 9, 2020
House of Whispers is one of several spin-offs of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series published in 2018. The opening story in this first volume serves as an introduction and advertisement for the various new series, including reboots of Books of Magic and Lucifer. So the intro might be a little confusing if you haven't read any Sandman. You can probably read and enjoy the main part of House of Whispers without having read any Sandman, but parts of the story are set in the Dreaming, and you will get a bit more out of it if you're familiar with characters like Cain and Abel, Lucien, and Merv Pumpkinhead.
In fact, I think that Hopkinson and Stanton do an excellent job of capturing the feel of the Sandman comics. There are patterns in the world, commonalities between concepts and phenomena that are not immediately obvious, and in the Sandman Universe, these patterns are embodied by supernatural beings who, despite having powers beyond those of normal humans, are prone to the same mental and emotional flaws that we suffer from. And while these beings can bring joy or suffering or relief to we humans, they can't do any of that without our assistance or complicity.
This is an excellent addition to the Sandman series, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.
In fact, I think that Hopkinson and Stanton do an excellent job of capturing the feel of the Sandman comics. There are patterns in the world, commonalities between concepts and phenomena that are not immediately obvious, and in the Sandman Universe, these patterns are embodied by supernatural beings who, despite having powers beyond those of normal humans, are prone to the same mental and emotional flaws that we suffer from. And while these beings can bring joy or suffering or relief to we humans, they can't do any of that without our assistance or complicity.
This is an excellent addition to the Sandman series, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.
February 14, 2020
Very interesting premise, regarding a "death delusion" virus, that is wasted on a seemingly endless mess of a story.
Human characters are flat, and we barely know them before they're "changed", so it becomes unclear whether certain behaviour is unlike them or to be expected. There's a lot of plot driven behaviour.
The voodoo spirits are much more interesting, but their motivations remain muddy and seem to change on a dime (which you can argue befits godlike spirits, I guess).
The Dreaming is sort of wedged in there (or the spirits are wedged into The Dreaming, more like), which feels forced and doesn't actually help the storytelling, it just means even more characters you don't really care about. It also makes it hard to ignore the Dream-shaped hole.
Nothing much is resolved at the end of this book, which is annoying.
The art is variable, now and then there's a really stunning drawing, but there are also plenty of unclear or wonky faces to be found.
(Read as six single issues)
Human characters are flat, and we barely know them before they're "changed", so it becomes unclear whether certain behaviour is unlike them or to be expected. There's a lot of plot driven behaviour.
The voodoo spirits are much more interesting, but their motivations remain muddy and seem to change on a dime (which you can argue befits godlike spirits, I guess).
The Dreaming is sort of wedged in there (or the spirits are wedged into The Dreaming, more like), which feels forced and doesn't actually help the storytelling, it just means even more characters you don't really care about. It also makes it hard to ignore the Dream-shaped hole.
Nothing much is resolved at the end of this book, which is annoying.
The art is variable, now and then there's a really stunning drawing, but there are also plenty of unclear or wonky faces to be found.
(Read as six single issues)
February 26, 2020
The new Dream quits leaving the Voodoo gods to run wild.
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